Apple took the wraps off the next major revisions of its mobile and desktop operating systems at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference this morning, offering up speedier web browsing, person-to-person payment transfers via iMessages and Apple Pay, popular MacOS features for the iPad, and more.

iOS 11

iOS 11, coming this fall, will include a raft of new features. A revamped iMessage app in iOS 11 will include a drawer to easily find your iMessage apps and stickers. iMessage users will also... Read More »

Child safety is critical, yet most parents can't monitor their children 24 hours a day. In those moments when children are out of sight or earshot, connected or smart devices can step in to play the role of guardian. At this week's Internet of Things World 2017, we found three revolutionary products that can help you protect your children, even when they're out of reach.

Google I/O 2017 demonstrates how Google is doubling down on artificial intelligence to give its products an edge over the competition.

Announcing Google Lens

Google CEO Sundar Pichai kicked off I/O by announcing Google Lens, which will work as an extension of Google Assistant and Google Photos (Android, iOS) (with integration in other apps planned for the near future). It takes the input from your phone's camera and attempts to tell you more about it -- people, places,... Read More »

Siri and the Google App demonstrate that using your voice can be the fastest way to get an answer to something, from driving directions to the middle name of the 21st President of the United States ("Alan"). Amazon's popular Echo devices can work this magic as well, with a built-in AI the company calls Alexa. In May 2017, Amazon added free messaging and voice calling to the Alexa app and all Echos. The people on both ends of the conversation... Read More »

Thirstie offers on-demand delivery of beer, wine, and liquor (an hour or less) in 10-plus cities -- Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto, and the Hamptons (soon) -- but also ships within three days to 35 states without bottle markups. What sets Thirstie... Read More »

Cinco de Mayo may be a big drinking holiday in the U.S. (much grander than in Mexico, in fact). But why do we clink margarita glasses every May 5?

Watch our Download.com colleague, Carlos, make a Thirstie-inducing margaritaWhat we are celebrating

The fifth of May marks the day the Mexican Army defeated their French invaders at the Battle of Puebla, back in 1862. No, it's not, as some think, Mexican Independence Day, which actually takes place on September 16. It's... Read More »

Is your cable TV bill too damn high? Or maybe you don't have cable but want to watch the cool new shows. Well, you can find solid alternatives to cable these days, and we're not just talking about Netflix (Android, iOS). With a collection of video apps on your smart TV or with an inexpensive streaming hardware hooked up to it, you can watch, pause, and record live channels and wade in an ocean of live... Read More »

With so many face transformation apps flooding the App Store today, do we really need another one?

Yes, say FaceApp's developers. Available for iPhones and Android devices, FaceApp lets you transform your standard selfies into something far more exciting -- or weird or creepy. Why go with basic when you can age yourself 40 years or even change sex?

This is how you do it:

Start by snapping your own selfie or importing an existing headshot from... Read More »

With Pandora Premium unleashed upon the suspecting public this week, the long-running music streaming service finally joined the on-demand listening party, after making its name as a radio-style service. Less expected was a big version bump for Google Earth, the fun-for-a-few-minutes 3D navigation app whose potential thunder has been mostly stolen by Google Maps for the last several years. Apple, YouTube, and popular indie game Lumino City also made a splash. Let's show you the highlights.

You've probably seen and heard the fictional tale of The Goonies, who sought One-Eyed Willy's Treasure, armed with only a map and a skeleton key. But it's far less likely you've heard of the real-life Waldos, who searched for a pot farm, near San Rafael High School, back in 1971, armed with only a treasure map and a few joints, even though their story's had a far-reaching impact. See, they met each day at 4:20 by the statue of... Read More »

In this week's Friday 5, Tidal becomes your main source for Jay Z, Spotify partners with UMG, YouTube TV streams Live TV for $35 per month, Hulu lets you stream entire TV seasons in under five minutes, and animation app FlipaClip entices new iOS users with a creative contest.

As the twittering birds and golden sunshine of spring finally roll in, we must take stock of the dusty nest that winter turned our home into. Did you spend a lot of time parked on the couch under a warm blanket and binge on Netflix while the lighting and thunder raged outside your window? Well, now that you've reached the end of the gauntlet, let's show you several handy mobile apps that can help you reorganize your home and possibly... Read More »

McAfee announced this week it is going it alone. It will spin off from Intel and become an independent cybersecurity company once again.

Intel bought McAfee in 2011 with the goal of more tightly linking security to Intel's chips. While Intel will retain a minority stake in the new security company, the move is intended to let McAfee concentrate on cybersecurity to better solve problems facing its users, said Gary Davis, Chief Consumer Security Evangelist at McAfee. "Being an... Read More »

Can the Cubs repeat? Will the league's highest payroll get the Red Sox to the World Series? Will the A's finish with more wins than the Giants? To find out, we've recruited the best baseball apps to track this season's progress.

Follow games

To catch live updates, listen to games, and watch TV broadcasts, get MLB.com's At Bat app (iOS and Android). At a glance, the app shows a live status of each of the the day's games. With... Read More »

Vudu (Android, iOS) is one of many services where you can buy and rent new movies to stream, but Vudu might have just gotten an edge on the competition. Of the 100,000+ movies on Vudu, about 8,000 can... Read More »

As you might expect, the congressional action has raised alarms in privacy and security communities. Part of the issue is that your carrier sees all your network traffic -- unlike a company like Google or Facebook, which sees just the traffic you send to them... Read More »

This week, Nintendo released the Android version of Super Mario Run. The one-handed side-scroller game first arrived on iOS devices in December, and Android users have been clamoring for their chance to play. In the game, you'll run and jump... Read More »